Mailbox



y 22, 1952 F. G. BROWN 2,604,260

MAILBOX Filed Aug. 1, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

F-G- BROWN ATTORNEY Patented July 22, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEMAILBOX Frank G. Brown, Salem, Ill.

Application August 1, 1949, Serial No. 107,880

2 Claims.

This invention relates to deposit and collection receptacles, and moreparticularly to a mail box designed to be attached to the wall, door orother portion of a building, and in which unauthorized access thereto isprevented by the provision of locking means operable only from theinside of the dwelling or other building to which the device isattached.

Heretofore numerous devices of this nature have been developed, but withmany of these the contents of the mail box interfered with properoperation of the locking means, and in some instances where aparticularly large quantity of mail was deposited in the box, it wasimpossible to properly engage the locking means.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a relativelysimple mail box which may be economically constructed of wood, plastic,metal, or other desired material, and which may be applied to the wallof a building with a minimum of alteration thereof.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a mail box in whichlocking means is provided for preventing unauthorized access thereto,which locking means may be operated only from the interior of thebuilding upon which the mail box is mounted.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a mail box havingmeans for accommodating large matter such as newspapers or otherperiodicals and in which means is likewise operated to preventaccidental opening of the box upon release of the locking means.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a mail box in accordance withthis inventionmounted on a wall, the box being in closed position;

Fig. 2, a fragmentary perspective of the mounting plate applied to thewall of a building and the means for supporting the mail box thereon andlocking. the same in closed position;

Fig. 3, a longitudinal sectional view of the mail box applied to thewall of the building and illustrating the arrangement of the lockingmeans to be operated from the interior of the building; and

Fig. 4, a fragmentary sectional view taken on the lined-4 of Fig. 3, andshowing the details of the locking and latching mechanism.

With continued reference to the drawing, a mail box In comprises anelongated container generally rectangular in cross section, thiscontainer being pivotally mounted on a supporting plate H by hinges orother suitable means l2.

Plate H, as shown in Fig. 2, is provided with a plurality of aperturesl3 for receiving screwthreaded fastening means or the like M, wherebythe plate H is securely fastened in place on the wall of a building orother desired supporting means.

Container [0 is provided with an inclined top wall I 5 and in this wallthere is an elongated slot Hi to facilitate the deposit of mail or thelike in the container [0. In order to prevent entry of rain or otherforeign material through the slot into the box, there is provided acover I! pivotally mounted by a hinge pin is attached. to upstandingears l9 provided on the box It The cover I! is movable, as shown by thearrow in Fig. 3, in order to permit the easy introduction of mailthrough the slot l6 and will return to position under the action ofgravity, the weight thereof being sufficient to prevent upward movementby the wind.

Box ll may also be provided on the outer surface thereof with a frame 20adapted for the reception of a card or the like bearing information asto the owner of the box. In order to facilitate handling newspapers orother bulky periodicals there are provided brackets 2|, each of whichmay be conveniently cut from a single piece of material, such as wood orplastic, and having upstanding portions 22 spaced forwardly of the frontsurface of the box l0, whereby the periodicals may be positioned betweenthe upstanding portions 22 and such front surface. Brackets 2i aresecured in position on the box ID by screw-threaded fastening means orthe like 23 passing through portions thereof and into the side walls ofthe box l0.

Box IE! is provided with a rear wall 24 extending upwardly from thebottom 25 for a portion of the width thereof, the wall 24 terminating inedge 26, as shown in Fig. 3, the space between this point and the topwall l5 providing an aperture sufficiently large to permit the removalof mail or the like deposited in box II].

In order to securely lock the box ID in closed position with the rearsurfaceof rear wall 24 abutting the front surface of plate I I there isprovided on the Wall 24 a projection 2'! surrounding a recess 28. Aplate 29 is secured to projection 21 by screw-threaded fastening meansor the like 30, this place extending inwardly over a portion of therecess 28 and being provided with a slot 3| for the reception of alocking bolt 32. The bolt 32, as shown in Fig. 2, is of elongatedconstruction and when located in one position is adapted to pass throughthe slot 3!, thus permitting movement of the box i8 and rear wall 24away from plate ii, whereby access to the interior of box It may be hadand upon return of the box and rear wall 24 to its initial position bolt32 will be disposed within the re cess 28 and will serve to lock the boxin such position by rotation thereof through an arc of approximately 90whereby the bolt 32 is disposed crosswise of the slot 3|, the boltengaging plate 29 to retain and lock the box in position.

Bolt 32 is mounted on a shaft 33 extending through a sleeve or the like34 disposed in the wall 35 of a building, the shaft 33 being provided atits opposite end with a finger-engaging knob 38 to facilitate turning ofthe bolt 32. In order to indicate whether the box is in locked orunlocked position an indicating means in the form of a pointer 3'? mayalso be secured to the shaft 33 adjacent the knob 36, and a plate 33with suitable indicia thereon may be positioned against the innersurface of wall 35 in order to cooperate with the pointer 3'. inindicating whether the box is in locked or unlocked condition.

When the box is in unlocked position it is de sired to preventinadvertent opening thereof by action of the wind or other means, andfor this purpose there is provided a resilient latch in the 1 form of aspring member 39 secured to the plate I l by screw-threaded fasteningmeans or the like 40 adjacent the side of the box it away from hingesi2. Latch 33 is provided with an aperture 4| adapted for engagement witha pin or been provided a relatively simple mail box in i,

which the box will normally be retained in locked condition, as shown inFig. 3, in which case mail may be deposited therein through the slot i6,and when it is desired to obtain this mail, it is only necessary tomanipulate the knob 35 to position the locking bolt 32 for passagethrough the slot 3i, whereupon the box may be swung outwardly on hinges12 after disengaging latch from pin 42, the mail in the box beingremoved through the space above rear wall 24. The box may then bereturned to closed position where it is held by latch 39 until knob 30is actuated to return the bolt 32 to a position crosswise of the slot3!, thereby securely locking the box in closed position. The provisionof the locking means on the rear surface of wall 24 precludes anyinterference with the operation thereof by mail or other material withinthe box, and consequently regardless of the volume of mail the operationof the lock will in no way be impaired. Such a device provides forcomplete protection of mail and renders the same completely inaccessibleto unauthorized persons, it being impossible for anyone to obtain accessto the box who does not also have access to the interior of the buildingon which the box is mounted.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made without departure from the spirit of the invention, andtherefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawingsand described in the specification, but only as indicated in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mail box comprising an elongated substantially rectangularreceptacle for mail, having a top wall, a bottom wall, side walls and arear wall, said rear wall terminating in spaced relation to the top wallproviding an access opening, one of the exposed walls being providedwith a mail slot, a mounting plate for said receptacle, pivot meansconnecting one edge of the rear wall of the receptacle to said mountingplate so that the receptacle may swing outwardly to aiford access to thereceptacle and may be swungin the opposite direction to bring its rearwall into parallelism with said mounting plate so that said accessopening will be closed by said mounting plate, a projection on the outersurface of said rear wall, said mounting plate having an opening forreceiving said projection, said projection having a recess and anelongated opening communicating with said recess, a shaft having atransverse bolt at one end for disposition in said opening in saidmounting plate and constructed to extend through the elongated openingin said projection and be rotated in said recess for looking engagementwith said projection, said shaft adapted to extend through a portion ofa building, and operating means on the other end of said shaft.

2. A mail box for mounting on one side of a portion of a buildingcomprising a receptacle havin a rear wall, a front wall, side walls, atop wall and bottom wall, means for mounting said receptacle formovement from an inner position with the rear wall adjacent one side ofa portion of the building to a position spaced therefrom, said rear wallbeing provided with an access opening for the removal of mail from thereceptacle, one of said other walls having a mail receiving slot,locking means engaging the outside of the rear wall of the receptaclefor securing the receptacle in its inner position whereby the sideportion of the building closes said access opening, rotatable shaftmeans extendable through said side portion of the building andactuatable from the other side thereof for operating said locking meansfor selectively securing said receptacle in its inner position closingsaid access opening and for releasing said receptacle for outwardmovement for exposing said access opening.

FRANK G. BROWN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 111,461 Lewis 1 Jan. 31, 1871861,290 Koons July 30, 1907 865,400 Koons Sept. 10, 1907 955,730Westelin Apr. 19, 1910 1,024,617 Chambers Apr. 30, 1912 1,344,281 WalkerJune 22, 1920

